Pericles: The Challenge of Athenian Democracy
Publisher
:
Armand Colin
Parution date
:
EAN
:
9782200244187
Number of pages
:
277
Description
In a remarkable book, Vincent Azoulay retraces the strategist’s life beyond the legend.
—Le Monde
In a clearly written and widely accessible book, Vincent Azoulay reexamines the life and work of Pericles, the father of Athenian democracy, and allows us to see how a democracy develops.
The birth of a democracy is of urgent interest to the entire world today. In this new work, Vincent Azoulay gives us a greater understanding of how democracy develops through his exploration of the role of Pericles in the political evolution of ancient Greece. The thoughts and actions of Pericles, a familiar name to anyone with any interest in the ancient Greek world, are of particular relevance today. Here, Azoulay allows us to see Pericles in the full light of his political and cultural context. By looking at Athens at the height of its powers, Azoulay sheds new light on both the exceptional role Pericles played in political development and on his deep complexity as a man.
Indeed, here we see Pericles the man as well as the myth. Azoulay goes beyond the traditional view of the ruler as an aloof orator and shows him as a cunning soldier, an honest politician, and a strong defender of the arts. Azoulay’s analysis relies on the whole world of golden-age Athens: historical, political, social, economic, and spiritual. His applying these dimensions to what he discovered about Pericles’ life and personality affords a uniquely nuanced portrait of the father of Athenian democracy.
Author
Vincent Azoulay : Vincent Azoulay is a professor of Greek history at Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée University. He is a specialist of the intellectual and political history of Athens. He is a contributor to The Long March: Xenophon and the Ten Thousand edited by Robin Lane Fox (Yale University Press, 2004).
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